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Editorial: Further extend Firestone access

Princeton students invite friends to visit campus on a regular basis. While these friends might tend to be more interested in exploring the eating clubs than the libraries, there are many situations in which visitors would appreciate access to Firestone, either for a tour or for research purposes. Currently, these visitors must pay $30 or more to access Firestone unless they are affiliated with an institution that participates in SHARES, a worldwide consortium of museums and academic institutions.

We acknowledge that there is value in limiting access to Firestone. When the library was open to the public, students were plagued by overcrowded study spaces and the library suffered from lost or defaced books. But the University’s recent decision to give access to public library patrons shows that limiting access can mitigate these harms while still allowing wider access to the University’s resources for the public good.

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Under the new system, the University Library has issued four library cards that may be reserved once a month by Princeton Public Library cardholders and can be used to access University libraries for 24 hours. The University could easily fashion a similar system that allows students from other colleges access to Firestone. The University Library could set aside a certain number of cards that Princeton students could reserve for their visiting friends. The friend could then go to the library, show a student ID from another college and gain access to the library for the day. These visitors would have the same privileges public library patrons have, which do not include the ability to borrow or recall books. To prevent abuse of the system, the library could limit how many days per year Princeton students could reserve a visitor’s card for a friend. Limiting the number of cards will prevent the overcrowding that previously caused problems. Restricting access to those students who have been vouched for by Princeton students also increases responsibility, thereby decreasing the likelihood that books will be destroyed or stolen.

The University’s collection of books is one of its most valuable resources. It is perfectly legitimate to restrict access in order to protect those resources. However, the University has now shown that giving limited access to libraries to a set of people beyond those affiliated with the University is a viable proposition. Thus, the University should extend these privileges to the friends of Princeton students.

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